A 23-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly smashing a window at a property in Swanscombe, Kent, stealing a van and leading police on a pursuit that ended 17 miles away in Bromley, south-east London. The chase concluded when Metropolitan Police officers used tactical contact to force the vehicle to a controlled stop, leaving it suspended amid shattered glass following a crash on the A20.

Kent Police said they were called at 2.55pm on Sunday after the man, known to the property's owner, took the van without permission. Officers traced the vehicle to Swanley around 6.45pm, but it failed to stop and continued into London, prompting the Met to take over the pursuit before the man was detained on Mottingham Road. He faces arrest on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking, criminal damage, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and failing to stop for police, and remains in custody. A Met officer suffered a hand injury and was briefly hospitalised, while at least eight police vehicles attended the crash scene, which witnesses described as sounding "like an air raid".